28 Oct 2015

With Liverpool decimated by injuries, there's clearly an opportunity here for new Reds boss Jurgen Klopp to give some of the club's young players a chance in the first team. Conor Randall has made the bench three times under Klopp, and other viable options include Pedro Chirivella, Cameron Brannagan, Jerome Sinclair. Joao Carlos Teixeira is another obvious option, and new reports suggest that the Portuguese attacker may finally get a chance to stake his claim.

"Joao Carlos Teixeira is in contention to make his home debut in Liverpool’s Capital One Cup tie with Bournemouth at Anfield on Wednesday night".

About freakin' time! Yes, I've argued this point a thousand times, but I make no apology for that.

I maintain that there's no excuse to keep ignoring Teixeira, and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that he isn't good enough, and/or has some kind of attitude problem.

* After a year on-loan, Brighton named Teixeira their 'Young Player of the Year'. He also received Liverpool's Academy 'Player of the Year' award for 2014-15, which proves that he has ability and quality.

* If Rossiter, or Ibe went out on loan and won 'Young Player of the Year', we'd never hear the end of it, but Teixeira gets no reward for doing a great job in a difficult, physical league, or for his mental strength in fighting back from a broken leg in just three months.

* Previous managers (and LFC's Academy staff) and only ever have good things to say about Teixeira. For example, during his spell at Brighton, Liverpool legend Sami Hyypia (who was boss at the time) described Teixeira as a 'dangerous' player, and enthused: "We have a very good player on our side. He [Teixeira] has a good mentality, is training well and and he can score goals".

In the last 3 years, Teixeira - dubiously nicknamed the 'new Deco' - has been granted a pathetic 8 minutes of first-team football, so it's also unfair to expect him to make a game-changing difference to a team that's drawn 8 of the last 9 games.

Teixeira is capable of that, but it takes time to build up a rhythm/rapport with team-mates, and I am confident that given regular game time (like Ibe, for example, who's made 27 appearances since January), he can have a specific, measurable impact on the team.

The likes of Lallana, Ibe, and Coutinho are continually given chances to play themselves into form, and this season, all three have abjectly failed to ignite Liverpool's season.

A similar opportunity should be given to Teixeira, starting tonight, at Bournemouth. My preferred lineup: